Description

Nagafen's Lair is a large set of caverns that lie deep in the Lavastorm
Mountains. Buried deep inside these caves is the lair of the Fire Giants,
who are the personal servants of the mighty dragon, Lord Nagafen. The
caverns leading to the dragon are infested with all manner of bats and
insects, as well as kobolds that have taken up residence in the entrance
to them.

Dangers

This dungeon is generally regarded as one of the two toughest dungeons
in all of Antonica. There are many specific dangers that I will describe
below, however there are some general dangers as well. First is that everything
in this zone sees through invisibility, which means that corpse retrieval
and quickly moving through the dungeon are not really possible. You will
need to fight your way through everything you meet in order to move further
in the dungeon.

The second general danger has to do with the physical layout of the dungeon.
The tunnels themselves are winding and confusing, which makes getting
lost or getting trapped in a place you don't want to be, as well as a
quick getaway, very dangerous. There are zones to Solusek's Eye nearby
when you are hunting kobolds, but the path to them is usually very twisty.
There also exists within the zone a great deal of lava. People who fall
into the lava here will take quite a bit of damage, and although there
is usually a nearby place to exit the lava, you have to live until you
reach it. Many longtime hunters have entire suits of protection from fire
jewelry that they don when hunting here.

Now for specific dangers. The kobolds are probably the easiest to fight
in the dungeon, but that's not saying much. They can hit pretty hard and
take a lot of damage, and there are a lot of them in the outer areas,
so it's recommended to have a group when taking them on.

The "bats and bugs," as they're called, are much more dangerous.
The bats themselves aren't too very tough, but they are nearly impossible
to solo because of their powerful stun attack, which takes you out of
commission for quite a while. The bugs are more dangerous, as many of
them have some evil poison- and disease-based DoTs that can wear you out
fast. They also tend to travel in packs and aggro easily.

Deeper still lies the Imp Guardians surrounding the Efreeti. This area
is very dangerous to hunt in due to the pathing of the creatures, and
has a high learning curve for how to do it safely. There is also basically
no way to safely flee the area if you run into trouble (other than evac'ing).
This is not an easy place to try and gain experience.

Further yet lies the Fire Giants in their temple. The strategy for clearing
out the Fire Giants is long and detailed, and requires a highly skilled
team of high level players to take on. None of these creatures can be
mesmerized at all or charmed except by very high level enchanters, and
they will resist all spells if the spellcaster is out of melee range.
Knowing the layout of the area is also important, as you will likely aggro
other Fire Giants through the walls of the place. Using someone who can
feign pull is essential in this area, and it shouldn't even be attempted
without it.

The deepest being in this zone is the mighty Lord Nagafen himself. The
dragon lies hidden in the deepest part of the dungeon, and is protected
by all of the creatures listed above. Taking on the dragon requires the
coordinated efforts of several (the least I've heard of is 4) full groups
of characters in order to take out, and even then is not something that
it done with ease. Having that full suit of fire protection jewelry is
only essential here if you want to live...

Benefits

Having said all of the above, you might be wondering why people would
fight here at all. With all of the dangers in this zone, however, come
a great deal of both experience and items that are all highly sought after.
Before the discovery of the lost continent of Kunark, it was actually
difficult to find anything to kill in this zone because it was so crowded.
It is now more open for hunters, and you can likely find great experience
even during peak times.

There are also several areas within the dungeon where it is relatively
safe to hunt creatures without too much danger. Most of these lie near
the zones into Solusek's Eye, where it is possibly to pull creatures and,
if you are overwhelmed, zone away from them. Mountains of experience can
be earned here in a relatively short period of time by a savvy group.

Travelling To and From
Nagafen's Lair

There are multiple entrances into Nagafen's Lair. The main one that people
take is from the Lavastorm Mountains. Within the mountains, travel to
the large lava pit at the north end, known as Solusek's Eye (not to be
confused with the zone Solusek's Eye, which everyone calls Sol A). There
are two paths to caves on the southern edge of the lava pit, the one you
want is the western one, which will take you to Nagafen's Lair.

There are multiple zones from Solusek's Eye (Sol A) into Nagafen's Lair.
These are frequently used as escapes from Nagafen's Lair into Sol A, but
be aware that they are also used for the same purpose on the other side,
and you may be going from the frying pan into the fire when you appear
on the other side...